--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Picking other people's brains is an art…" description: "\"Picking other people's brains is an art worth cultivating.\" — Jessica Mitford" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/836/jessica-mitford-21991_art_picking-other-people-s-brains-is-an-art_118240.jpg" --- # Picking other people's brains is an art worth cultivating. ![“Picking other people's brains is an art worth cultivating.” quote by Jessica Mitford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/836/jessica-mitford-21991_art_picking-other-people-s-brains-is-an-art_118240.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/836/jessica-mitford-21991_art_picking-other-people-s-brains-is-an-art_118240.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/836/jessica-mitford-21991_art_picking-other-people-s-brains-is-an-art_118240.jpg) > “Picking other people's brains is an art worth cultivating.” [Jessica Mitford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-mitford/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Extracting ideas from others is a skill worth developing, as it enriches one's own thinking and problem‑solving capacity. **In simple terms:** Learning from others is valuable. Key Takeaway Cultivating curiosity enhances insight. Themes learning collaboration creativity knowledge sharing Mood inspirational thoughtful Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - brainstorming sessions - mentorship programs - research collaborations Key Concepts intellectual humility networking Practical Applications - practice active listening - maintain idea journals Questions to Reflect On - How can one ethically integrate others' ideas? - What habits foster effective idea exchange? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Brain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brain/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) ## Related quotes > [Spontaneity, the hallmark of childhood, is well worth cultivating to counteract the rigidity that may otherwise set in as we grow older.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/spontaneity-the-hallmark-of-childhood-is-well-worth-cultivating-to/) [Gail Sheehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/) > [I definitely like taking the dark horse approach and picking people you should not be getting behind, and you figure out a way to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danny-mcbride/i-definitely-like-taking-the-dark-horse-approach-and-picking-people/) [Danny McBride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danny-mcbride/) > [We're picking on people we can beat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-clooney/we-re-picking-on-people-we-can-beat/) [George Clooney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-clooney/) > [Art is a course in personal development that has no reliable diploma and no known end. The pursuit of art instructs in beauty as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-genn/art-is-a-course-in-personal-development-that-has-no-reliable-diploma/) [Robert Genn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-genn/) > [Anyone who knew the word slattern was worth cultivating as a friend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-bradley/anyone-who-knew-the-word-slattern-was-worth-cultivating-as-a-friend/) [Alan Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-bradley/) > [I've made several careers out of people underestimating me - it's almost an advantage worth cultivating.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hickenlooper/i-ve-made-several-careers-out-of-people-underestimating-me-it-s/) [John Hickenlooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hickenlooper/) > [Six months of looking for a job had made me an expert at picking out the people who, like me, were hurrying up to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-naylor/six-months-of-looking-for-a-job-had-made-me-an-expert-at-picking-out/) [Gloria Naylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-naylor/) > [It's almost not safe to be an artist, the way everybody is randomly picking people to feud with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/busta-rhymes/it-s-almost-not-safe-to-be-an-artist-the-way-everybody-is-randomly/) [Busta Rhymes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/busta-rhymes/) > [I'm not in a rush to do anything. And I wouldn't say I pick and choose. When it comes to producers picking people for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-leblanc/i-m-not-in-a-rush-to-do-anything-and-i-wouldn-t-say-i-pick-and-choose/) [Matt LeBlanc](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-leblanc/) > [I'm getting good exposure because of the movies I'm picking and the people I'm working with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-jackson/i-m-getting-good-exposure-because-of-the-movies-i-m-picking-and-the/) [Amy Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-jackson/) > [I love picking people. I started Blackstone, and we had no people, and now we have with our portfolio companies about 750,000 people all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-a-schwarzman/i-love-picking-people-i-started-blackstone-and-we-had-no-people-and/) [Stephen A. Schwarzman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-a-schwarzman/) > [You can't get it all done yourself. The best leaders are not afraid of picking people who are better than they are and who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-powell/you-can-t-get-it-all-done-yourself-the-best-leaders-are-not-afraid-of/) [Colin Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-powell/) > [Picking on people half your size don't make you tough it makes them tough.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-mccarty/picking-on-people-half-your-size-don-t-make-you-tough-it-makes-them/) [Kevin McCarty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-mccarty/) > [When I first came into the England one-day side and joined the selectors, I wanted to move away from picking what some people called…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nasser-hussain/when-i-first-came-into-the-england-one-day-side-and-joined-the/) [Nasser Hussain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nasser-hussain/) > [I'm not good at picking people up, I'd rather just get to know someone. I'm not an 'opening line' kind of guy; it's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-sharp/i-m-not-good-at-picking-people-up-i-d-rather-just-get-to-know-someone/) [Alex Sharp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-sharp/) ## More by Jessica Mitford > [I discovered that Human Nature was not, as I had always supposed, a fixed and unalterable entity, that wars are not caused by a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-mitford/i-discovered-that-human-nature-was-not-as-i-had-always-supposed-a/) [Jessica Mitford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-mitford/) > [Alas, poor Yorick! How surprised he would be to see how his counterpart of today is whisked off to a funeral parlor and is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-mitford/alas-poor-yorick-how-surprised-he-would-be-to-see-how-his-counterpart/) [Jessica Mitford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-mitford/) > [You may not be able to change the world, but at least you can embarrass the guilty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-mitford/you-may-not-be-able-to-change-the-world-but-at-least-you-can/) [Jessica Mitford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-mitford/) > [A thirteen-year-old is a kaleidoscope of different personalities, if not in most ways a mere figment of her own imagination. At that age, what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-mitford/a-thirteen-year-old-is-a-kaleidoscope-of-different-personalities-if/) [Jessica Mitford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-mitford/) > [In childbirth, as in other human endeavors, fashions start with the rich, are then adopted by the aspirant middle class with an assist from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-mitford/in-childbirth-as-in-other-human-endeavors-fashions-start-with-the/) [Jessica Mitford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-mitford/) > [Now there is a society where the funeral industry got completely out of control.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-mitford/now-there-is-a-society-where-the-funeral-industry-got-completely-out/) [Jessica Mitford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-mitford/) > [Objectivity? I've always had an objective.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-mitford/objectivity-i-ve-always-had-an-objective/) [Jessica Mitford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-mitford/) > [Funeralese has had its ups and downs. The word 'morticians,' first used in Embalmers Monthly for February, 1895, was barred by the Chicago Tribune…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-mitford/funeralese-has-had-its-ups-and-downs-the-word-morticians-first-used/) [Jessica Mitford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-mitford/) > [Objectivity? I always have an objective.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-mitford/objectivity-i-always-have-an-objective/) [Jessica Mitford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-mitford/) > [the whole point of muck-raking, apart from all the jokes, is to try to do something about what you've been writing about. You may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-mitford/the-whole-point-of-muck-raking-apart-from-all-the-jokes-is-to-try-to/) [Jessica Mitford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-mitford/) > [Things on the whole are faster in America; people don't stand for election, they run for office. If a person says he's sick, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-mitford/things-on-the-whole-are-faster-in-america-people-don-t-stand-for/) [Jessica Mitford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-mitford/) > [Gracious dying is a huge, macabre and expensive joke on the American public.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-mitford/gracious-dying-is-a-huge-macabre-and-expensive-joke-on-the-american/) [Jessica Mitford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-mitford/) > [Things on the whole are much faster in America; people don't 'stand for election', they 'run for office.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-mitford/things-on-the-whole-are-much-faster-in-america-people-don-t-stand-for/) [Jessica Mitford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-mitford/) > [Prison walls are meant not only to keep convicts in, but to keep the would-be investigator out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-mitford/prison-walls-are-meant-not-only-to-keep-convicts-in-but-to-keep-the/) [Jessica Mitford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-mitford/) > [It is somehow reassuring to discover that the word travel is derived from travail, denoting the pains of childbirth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-mitford/it-is-somehow-reassuring-to-discover-that-the-word-travel-is-derived/) [Jessica Mitford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-mitford/) [Explore all 28 Jessica Mitford quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-mitford/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Picking other people's brains is an art worth cultivating.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jessica Mitford" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-mitford/picking-other-people-s-brains-is-an-art-worth-cultivating/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-mitford/picking-other-people-s-brains-is-an-art-worth-cultivating/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/836/jessica-mitford-21991_art_picking-other-people-s-brains-is-an-art_118240.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/836/jessica-mitford-21991_art_picking-other-people-s-brains-is-an-art_118240.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/836/jessica-mitford-21991_art_picking-other-people-s-brains-is-an-art_118240.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Picking other people's brains is an art worth cultivating.” — Jessica Mitford", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Jessica Mitford", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-mitford/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Picking other people's brains is an...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-mitford/picking-other-people-s-brains-is-an-art-worth-cultivating/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-mitford/picking-other-people-s-brains-is-an-art-worth-cultivating/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```